


Steal My Heart

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Humanstuck, Love Confessions, M/M, Secret Relationship, Sloppy Makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: Cronus Ampora, notorious town trouble maker and son of one of the city's richest business men has somehow won the heart of Kankri Vantas, the local pastor's son. Dating in secret, it's hard for them to find time to spend together, and all their time together is amazing, but some nights, like this one, are more romantic than most.
Relationships: Cronus Ampora/Kankri Vantas, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas (background)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 103





	Steal My Heart

Night is falling, the outside world starting to darken as Kankri watches it from his bedroom window. Somewhere downstairs, people are shouting, like they have been for hours at this point. Kankri sighs heavily, wishing for just a little silence for once as his fingers tap an anxious rhythm against the cover of the bible clasped in his hands.

The distant sound of Karkat yelling at their father downstairs finally falls silent, and Kankri hears the living room door slam shut as his father retreats. Seconds later footsteps rush past, and then Karkat slams the door to his own bedroom with enough force that the windows in Kankri’s room shake in their frames. Kankri sighs tiredly, slowing blowing air out through his nostrils tiredly. At least now the noise will be over, and he can get some sleep.

He smooths his fingers gently over the wafer thin paper of the bible, then gently closes it and places it back on his bedside table where it belongs. Downstairs, he knows his father will have poured himself half a glass of wine, and will be pouring over one of his old books as he sips at it, or simply staring ahead at the wall where the pictures of Kankri and Karkat’s mother still hang. He swears he doesn’t drink, but Kankri can always smell old stale alcohol when he goes downstairs in the mornings, and the bottles filling up their recycling certainly aren’t his, and hopefully not Karkat’s. He tries not to think about this as he crawls under the covers of his bed and reaches for the switch on the lamp beside his bed.

The second he does flick the light off though, there’s suddenly a small tapping noise against his window. He freezes, half in and half out of bed, barely even breathing as he listens, sure he must have imagined it. But then he hears it again, louder this time. A small object, or several maybe, clattering against the window. Quickly., he’s out of bed, wincing as his feet hit the floor just a little too loudly, though he’s sure his father isn’t listening, and probably wouldn’t care even if he did hear movement upstairs. Even so, Kankri’s careful to be as quiet as possible as he creeps to the window and pulls back the curtain a few inches. After all, even his father isn’t listening, Karkat might be, though he’s probably already on the phone to his boyfriend ranting about his latest argument with his father.

Squinting down at the darkness of the driveway beyond the window, Kankri makes out a shape standing just underneath his window, and smiles. He knows exactly who it is. There’s only one person who’s made a habit of throwing rocks at his window in the middle of the night. He pushes the window open and leans out, wincing when the person whistles up at him.

“Ssh,” he hisses, “I’ll be down in a second.” He only hopes his voice is audible from below. It seems to be, because his visitor holds up a thumb in his direction before Kankri shuts the window and then retreats back into his bedroom.

He’s as quick as he possibly can be as he takes his pyjamas back off, folds them neatly under his pillow and then pulls on his usual red turtleneck and some pants before heading out of the room. He reckons it won’t be too hard to sneak past his father, it never has been before, and he can hear Karkat ranting away in his bedroom, so really it isn’t that hard for him to sneak downstairs. Even so, his heart is beating just a little too fast in his chest, and he picks at the sleeves of his sweater anxiously as he heads for the front door. His keys are hanging on a hook by the door, and he shoves them into his back pocket, along with his phone, before he carefully opens up the door and makes his way outside. The lights in the living room are on, but he can’t hear any movement from inside, and figures his father’s either really distracted or has already fallen asleep, so he pulls the front door shut behind him and disappears out, not worrying what anyone will think if they realise he’s gone. He doesn’t really care.

It’s a freezing cold winter’s night, and he shudders as he makes his way quickly along the driveway to where the person is now waiting for him right where the drive joins the road. He’s leaning back casually against the fencepost, arms crossed against his chest, and he turns his head slowly to look at Kankri as he approaches. In the faint light from a nearby streetlight, Kankri can just about make out the smirk on his face.

“Hey, chief!” he calls out, and Kankri quickly hushes him, just in case anyone hears from the house.

“Hello Cronus,” he says awkwardly, and Cronus throws his head back to laugh faintly as he falls into step beside Kankri and they make their way out onto the street.

“Still as polite as ever, Kan,” he says with another huff of laughter. He sways sideways slightly to purposefully knock his shoulder against Kankri’s, and Kankri returns the gesture while fighting back a small smile. He hates how comfortable he feels around Cronus.

Cronus’s motorbike is sat waiting around the corner. Kankri pauses briefly at the sight of it, flexing his hands anxiously inside his too-long sweater sleeves.

“Cronus I -”

“Oh, shush, it’ll be fun,” Cronus says, “Brought you a spare helmet and everything.”

Kankri crosses his arms across his chest, face screwed up as he weighs up his options. He can go and spend an evening with Cronus and risk even more than they usually do, or he can return to the house where both him and Karkat have to hide themselves and their true thoughts away from their father. He sighs softly, and then reaches out for the helmet that Cronus is now offering towards him.

“At least you had safety in mind,” he huffs, before reaching up to pull the helmet over his mess of curly black hair, settling it comfortably on his head.

“See, there’s the risk taker I love,” Cronus says, before pulling his own helmet on, and Kankri’s suddenly glad for the helmer so that Cronus can’t see how much he blushes at the word ‘love’. Cronus is the sort of person who tends to throw words like that around a lot, but to Kankri it means a little more. He hasn’t said it yet, hasn’t felt confident enough to.

Cronus swings a leg up and over the bike, settles himself on it comfortably, then twists around and pats the small space behind him invitingly. Kankri grumbles softly under his breath. Not only is he now about to sneak away from home to spend the evening with the boyfriend he’s not allowed to have, but he’s about to do it on a motorbike of all things. His father will have an aneurysm if he finds out. But for once he manages to push away any thoughts of his father and his opinions. This is Kakri’s life to live how he chooses. So he climbs onto the bike behind Cronus, pushing himself up against his boyfriend’s back until he feels safe enough. And, well, he’s certainly not complaining about their sudden closeness. Cronus isn’t, either.

“Hold on tight, doll,” Cronus calls over his shoulder. Kankri couldn’t possibly be holding on any tighter if he tried, but still he inches a little closer to his boyfriend and grips on as much as he can as the engine roars to life underneath them. A second later Cronus lifts his leg up off of the ground and then the bike shoots off into the night.

Kankri lets out a squeak of surprise, before biting down on his lip, hoping Cronus didn’t hear that. His boyfriend is a little too distracted, throwing his head backwards to let out an excited “whoop” as he turns them down onto a smaller road. Kankri feels inclined to make some sort of comment about road safety and keeping your eyes on the road ahead, but something about Cronus’s excitement melts his heart and he can’t bring himself too. Instead he glances sideways to watch the dark scenery rush by, feeling the wind ghost over the few parts of his skin that are exposed, and smiles faintly despite himself. Somehow, he’s enjoying this more than he’d expected to. He lets his smile grow into a full grin as he sinks into the rhythm of the bike beneath him and lets himself relax just slightly. He feels safer than he’d expected to with Cronus in control of the bike, and he’s almost disappointed when the ride comes to an end after only ten minutes or so later.

Cronus pulls up at the side of the coast road, and quickly hops off of the bike, holding out a hand to Kankri to help him down.

“You enjoy that?” He asks, raising an eyebrow. His voice is a little muffled by the helmet, but Kankri can still hear the smirk in his tone.

“Yes,” he admits grumpily, crossing his arms again, and Cronus laughs and slings an arm around his shoulders.

“Come on then,” he says.

“Where are we going?” Kankir asks, uncrossing his arms so he can wriggle closer to Cronus’s side. Cronus simply nods towards the beach and then starts to wander down that way. Kankri sighs softly, but walks quietly alongside his boyfriend as they make their way down onto the sand. They’re still wearing their helmets, Kankri realises, but he doesn’t stop to take it off, too content just wandering along in silence.

Eventually Cronus comes to a stop, and lets go of Kankri to reach up and remove his helmet. He reaches out a hand, and Kankri pulls off his own helmet and hands it over. Cronus crouches to rest both of them down on the sand, then takes a step closer to Kankri.

“Heh, your hair’s a mess chief,” Cronus says softly, reaching up to run his hands through Kankri’s hair a few times, attempting to smooth down the mess the bike ride turned it into. Kankri turns his head gently, pushing his cheek further into Cronus’s hand almost by instinct, and Cronus lets out a small huff of laughter that sends his breath spiralling out into the air between them.

“God, I love you Kanny,” Cronus breathes out gently.

“Do you…. Do you mean that?” Kankri asks, moving his head away from Cronus’s hand so he can look up at him properly. He’s not sure he wants to know the answer. “You just… you say it a lot and -”

“I say it a lot because I mean it, Kan,” Cronus says, “I promise.”

“It’s just hard to believe,” Kankri sighs, and Cronus reaches out to tug Kankri closer to him.

“Well you better start believing it, babe. Because I’m gonna keep saying it til you do,” Cronus says, before he leans down to gently brush their noses together. Kankri feels a little guilty that he can never say it back, that he can’t bring himself to believe it. “I don’t need you to tell me for me to know it,” Cronus adds, as if he can hear Kankri’s thoughts, “Doesn’t matter to me, babe. Just having you here is enough.”

And he wants to say it. He really does. But Kankri just can’t bring himself to. In the back of his head there’s still a nagging anxiety that this is still all just a joke. So he just looks up at Cronus, trying to explain himself. But he doesn’t have to, because Cronus just grabs onto the collar of his sweater, tugs Kankri up towards him, and silences any of his thoughts as he presses their lips together.

Kankri gasps softly against Cronus’s lips, winding his arms around him to clutch at the back of his leather jacket. They both sink into the warmth and familiarity of it all, falling into each other’s embrace. In the back of Kankri’s mind he can’t help thinking that all of this is wrong. Forbidden. But he doesn’t care, especially not as Cronus moans faintly into his mouth and tugs at his hair.

 _How could this ever be wrong?_ he thinks, as Cronus pulls away for a second and then starts to press a flurry of deep kisses against his mouth. Because as much as it’s ‘sinful’ and ‘dirty’ and ‘everything wrong with the world’ according to his father, there’s a sweet innocence to the tiny mumbles of “I love you” coming from Cronus between kisses. There’s urgency there too, after all they don’t get to see each other much, and no moment between them can go to waste. After a while though, Kanrki pulls back. He glances up at Cronus, and in the faint light from the moon overhead and nearby lights, he can just about see the way his boyfriend’s pupils have blown wide, and the dark flush decorating his cheeks, as the two stay huddled together, panting softly. Kankri lets his head fall against Cronus’s chest, and for a second they stay there until Cronus tugs on his hand and pulls him down to collapse onto the sand with him.

Cronus reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out his phone, hitting play on some random song before he tosses it aside into the sand. The music flows nicely into the sound of nearby waves crashing against the sand, and Kankri smiles faintly as he rolls over to press his face into Cronus’s shoulder. Cronus reaches down to link their hands together and squeezes gently. It’s cold on the sand, and then wind blowing over them makes the chill worse, but Kankri tries not to shiver too much. Still, Cronus notices and shifts away from Kankri for a second to shrug off his jacket and pull it around Kankri’s shoulders.

“Won’t you be cold?” Kankri asks, shuffling back closer to him.

Cronus loops his own arms back around Kankri and nuzzles closer to him. “Nah, not with you giving me some fine cuddles, chief,” he says, and Kankri lets out a huff of laughter.

“You’re obnoxious,” Kankri huffs.

“You know it, doll.”

Kankri smiles and rests his head back against the sand, listening as the music continues to drift over them.

“How’s home?” Cronus asks after a few moments, and Kankri huffs softly.

“Karkat and father are arguing again,” Kankri sighs, “Something about Karkat getting caught drinking at Dave’s house.”

“Dave’s his boyfriend, right?” Cronus asks, and when Kankri nods he adds, “Poor kid.”

“Mmh,” Kankri hums in agreement, diggin the heel of one of his shoes into the sand. “How’s your family?”

“Same as ever,” Cronus huffs, “Eridan’s moping over some girl again and father’s too busy with his business to remember he has sons.” He knocks one of his knees against Kankri’s before adding, “Lucky I’ve got you to talk to, really.”

Kankri blushes, though it’s mostly invisible in the darkness of the beach, and he turns his head to press it further into Cronus’s shoulder. “Lucky to have you too,” he grumbles softly, and feels Cronus crane his head around weirdly to press a kiss to the top of his head.

They lay there together for a few moments more, the silence between them filled only by the weird mix of music from Cronus’s playlist. Eventually Cronus rolls over slightly, and leans over Kankri. He stares down at him for a second, hair falling forward over his face, and licks his lips so quickly it's barely visible. Kankri gulps faintly, and then Cronus leans down to close the gap between them and press their lips together again. There’s a second where Kankri pauses, and then he arches up into Cronus’s touch a little, gripping at the back of his shirt to pull his boyfriend further down towards him. After a moment, Cronus slides a hand up under Kankri’s sweater and Kankri whines at the cold touch of his hand. Cronus chuckles faintly at it and then pulls back an inch or so, smiling at Kankri as he tries to crane his head upwards and chase his lips.

“You’re beautiful, Kan,” Cronus murmurs, bringing his hand up to gently cup his face and stroke his cheek with one thumb.

Kankri feels a warm feeling flutter deep in his stomach, and blinks in surprise up at his boyfriend as his words register. And then, in a burst of emotion, he blurts out, “I love you!”

“W-what?” Cronus asks, sitting back a little so he can look at Kankri properly.

“I love you,” Kankri repeats, this time his voice coming out a little quieter as he realises what he’s saying, “I do. I love you. I should have said it sooner. I -”

Cronus quiets him before cupping his face again, this time with both hands, and leaning into press a slow, gentle kiss to Kankri’s lips. It only lasts a few seconds before he pulls back, smoother and more gentle than their previous kisses, but with even more emotion put into it.

“You know I love you too,” he murmurs quietly as he pulls away, brushing their noses together gently, “Always will do, babe.”

And Kankri reaches up with shaking hands to tug Cronus down and kiss him again and again as the night passes by them.

******

Cronus takes the long route home, and Kankri’s not complaining, happily pressed up against his boyfriend’s back as the cool night air passes him by. When they eventually reach Kankri’s home, it’s with a great reluctance that he gets off of the bike and passes the spare helmet back over to Cronus.

“You keep that, chief,” Cronus smiles, “How about we go for rides more often?”

Kankri grins, and leans down to lift up Cronus’s helmet to kiss him gently. “Sounds good to me,” he murmurs, pecking him on the lips one more time quickly before letting his helmet fall back into place.

“Night, Kan,” Cronus calls as Kankri starts to head up towards his house. He stops, and turns to raise a hand slowly in his direction.

“Bye,” he calls back quietly, and lets out a scoff of laughter when Cronus dramatically blows a kiss in his direction, before pretending to catch the kiss and spinning back around to creep inside.

His father is passed out in the living room when Kankri gets back inside. He sighs softly, then creeps into the room and grabs a blanket from the spare sofa and tucks it over his father. He smiles down sadly at his father for a second before turning and creeping upstairs, where he can hear Karkat whispering and giggling in his own room. By the time he gets into his own bedroom there’s a text message flashing on the screen of his cellphone, and he looks at it with a small smile.

Love you, see you soon.

Kankri smiles giddily and drops down onto his bed, clutching his phone to his chest for a moment before he types out a reply.

I love you too.


End file.
